Magda is a nice girl who works in the library. Contrary to appearances, however, she is not a basic lady who puts everyone in corners – she has a lot of slack and tolerance. The exception is her grandmother, who, according to our heroine, has become a parody of herself.
“Grandma has always loved to shock. Colorful clothes, hair, loud lifestyle. But everything has its limits and at the age of 72, it is no longer appropriate to do certain things – Magda explains.
She has been closely associated with her grandmother Wanda since she was a child. It was she who instilled in her a love of books and music.
“I got my first albums from her. Grandma, as a young girl, performed in a rock band and tried to instill in me and my cousins a love for such sounds. Plus books – it started with “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and ended with “1984” by George Orwell – recalls Magda with joy in her eyes.
They also did crossword puzzles together and learned English together. Our heroine openly admits that Grandma Wanda was a cultural animator in her family home.
“During family events, we did plays, recited poems, danced and sang songs. It was so special that I would like to create such a house for my children and grandchildren in the future – says the girl.
Everything started to change in 2007, when Mrs. Wanda left for Germany.
– My grandparents had to close the shop they ran for 12 years. Grandfather took part-time jobs, and Grandma was supposed to look after an old lady in Germany, says Magda.
Separation from her beloved grandmother was difficult for growing up Magdalena. Their contact was limited to phone calls only. After a year, however, something happened that worried Magda and her family.
Grandma stopped calling. It lasted about two weeks. When we called her German number, we were told that Wanda no longer works here. We were terrified – Magdalena recalls those events.
Magda’s parents and grandfather were ready to go to Germany when the person they had been waiting for almost 14 days appeared at their door.
“She looked like a woman of loose morals. I know it sounds awful coming from my granddaughter, but at that moment I wasn’t seeing my beloved grandma Wanda, just some embarrassing queen. Boots, a tight dress, some weird bracelets. Yes, grandma has always been a colorful bird, but then she totally overdid it – recalls the librarian with embarrassment.
Mrs. Wanda burst into the house as if nothing had happened, hugged all family members and gave each of them a gift.
– Mom and I got thongs, and dad and grandpa got a pink tie – confesses Magda with an ironic smile.
The surprises didn’t end there. With Mrs. Wanda came guests from Germany.
– Horst and Inga were friends of her grandmother whom she met in a pub in Germany during karaoke. They were colorful birds too, but much more progressive. They instilled love in grandma, among others to naturism,” the librarian raises her eyebrows slightly.
The new friends also owned the pub Magda mentioned. It was there that Mrs. Wanda found a job as a waitress, abandoning her previous job. After a few days in Poland, she returned with Horst and Inga to Germany.
Magda’s grandmother returned to Poland permanently four years later. She got a job in one of the restaurants as an accountant, and after hours she started playing in a wedding band. At that time, Magda started her studies and lived in a rented studio apartment. One Friday night, she decided to go to a club. There she met Mrs. Wanda, who gave a show, singing and dancing on the table.
I look and there is Grandma dancing on the table and singing with a group of younger men. I was about to run away when she called me, shouting to the whole club: This is my beautiful granddaughter! She hasn’t had a boyfriend yet! – recalls Magda, hiding her head in her hands.
Her cousin was in a similar situation.
“He was at the club one night, too, and he passed the grannies. She started accosting girls dancing on the dance floor and persuading them to go on a date with him, says the girl who, after all that, decided to meet her grandmother on neutral ground to talk about her behavior.
“I told her what she was doing was embarrassing. I asked what happened there in Germany that changed her so much – says our heroine.
“She told me then that she had been unhappy in her marriage to her grandfather for many years. That he’s so calm and she’s crazy, and that’s all there is to these things. It was only her acquaintance with Horst and Inga that taught her that you can live differently – Magdalena recounts the meeting with her grandmother.
The marriage of Mrs. Wanda’s friends lived as true hippies should – free love and eternal party.
– When my grandmother started telling me that she wanted to find a lover, and my grandfather was trying to persuade me to have a lover, I was dumbfounded. It was too much for me – explains Magda, who after this conversation did not speak to her grandmother for several months.
“I felt sorry for my grandfather who had to endure all this. Despite many conversations with me, cousins and parents, he turned the whole situation into a joke – the librarian is sad at the thought.
Magda stopped contacting her grandmother. All the time, however, she received signals about her behavior from friends who saw Mrs. Wanda in clubs and pubs at various events.
“Interestingly, they were very positive about it. They said that she was a nice woman and that they envied me such an entertaining grandmother – says the girl.
It was little consolation to her, after all, as she would rather have her grandmother sew sweaters in a rocking chair than make a young girl of herself.
– I have no problem with a woman wanting to look and feel young in her 60s or 70s. I just can’t stand exaggeration. The moment I see someone acting like a perpetual teenager, I think that they become a parody of themselves – he explains.
Magda decided to do an experiment. She took her grandmothers to the bookstore and picked up Orwell’s 1984.
– Do you remember? I said, and she said, “Yes, but now I prefer a little different literature.” Then she picked up a romance novel, recalls Magdalena.
“I am past my intellectual days. Now it’s time to play – Mrs. Wanda added after a while, and then took Magda to one of the chain stores with clothes.
– She tried to persuade me to buy two tight dresses, because in her opinion I looked like a gray mouse – laughs Magda, who ultimately did not buy any of them.
It was at this point that she decided to give up. After all, she could see that such a style suited her grandmother, and it would be difficult to change her.
“She still doesn’t like her image, but what can I do? However, I have a feeling that despite these declarations about looking for lovers, she never betrayed her grandfather. She is a compulsive flirt and eccentric, but my intuition tells me that she wouldn’t go that far, states Wanda’s granddaughter.
2023-05-01 16:14:49
#ashamed #grandma #teenager
